


DeKnight and Marsters Q&A

by yourlibrarian



Series: Convention Write Ups [1]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Smallville
Genre: Conventions, Gen, Nonfiction, Transcribed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Panels at the James Marsters Con at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Series: Convention Write Ups [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2196066
Kudos: 3
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	DeKnight and Marsters Q&A

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted September 12, 2006

All in all it was a Very Buffy Weekend. Aside from the con, when we were at breakfast Thursday morning, David Boreanaz was on "Regis and Kelly" and as we packed up and drove to the airport, Seth Green was being interviewed on KROQ regarding the new season of "Robot Chicken." With such large casts, it seems someone from the Whedonverses is doing an appearance somewhere every day of the week.

Next up on Saturday were Steve DeKnight and Dee Dee Bradley. The audience for most Q&A's was small, about 100 people of the 420 or so there. About the closest I saw the hall to full was during James' Q&A and the Teechers performance. Steve and Dee Dee admitted that although she continues to cast for Veronica Mars and Smallville they had never met until Saturday morning. Bradley had also never met Marsters until a few minutes earlier, despite casting him for Braniac. 

The first question had to do with the size of Braniac's role in the show. Was it planned that what we got was all he was to do? SDK said that yes and no, as they had to free James for pilot season and hoped to bring him back afterwards. They also hoped to maybe get him on "Aquaman" and maybe back on Smallville.

Bradley said it was easy to cast for Smallville because people are dying to be on it, which is not the case for all shows. SDK said he was too and joked he had even shaved his head for a flashback as a young Lex. He added that they had a lot of freedom with storylines despite some constraints from DC. The show had actually been planning to kill off Martha, not Jonathan Kent, but as she was alive in the movie, they could not get the go-ahead for that storyline. 

Bradley was asked about stereotyping in casting. She said that some roles had more leeway than others, and for less specific constraints she preferred to cast the net widely and bring in unexpected types as this was more fun for her. She also said that actors can overcome stereotypes and personally saw no stigma related to genre shows.

She was then asked if it was difficult to cast roles that have previously been played by other actors, or did she prefer casting new characters. She said there had been no room for creativity in casting the role of Clark, although different ideas were played with. There was much more with Lex, and Michael Rosenbaum was an actor who defied expectations.

SDK was asked if Toymaker or Bizarro might ever appear on Smallville. Answer: maybe, but special effects needs can sometimes restrict who they use and when in the season. During AtS S5 the writers would joke that a special effect always happened offscreen, and that sounds would replace visuals. Costs for shows get more expensive with every season and Smallville was going into its 6th season. 

Someone quoted Patrick Stewart saying in an interview that his career had been tainted by doing sci-fi and TV series and he was restricted in role choice. Steve said he would cast him in a minute and would like to see him as Jor-El in Smallville. He said he had liked Stewart since he first saw him in "Lifeforce" and noted that with "Excalibur" and others he had done a great deal of genre work. He said it would be more difficult for genre shows to get an Emmy as they had very adult voters who were suspicious of genre. OMWF deserved an Emmy but although genre shows make money, honors are reserved for more serious fare in voter minds.

Bradley was asked how important an agent vs. a manager was for an actor. Bradley replied that legally an agent is the only one who can submit an actor for a part, although managers do. In the beginning an actor should work with whoever believed in them and would promote them. Eventually a manager helps guide an actor's career, by choosing roles and other work.

Bradley was asked if she has to find people or if they come to her. She said that she sends out breakdowns to all agents and managers all over the country, and then photos get submitted to her. A lot of times actors don't have to audition if they're known quantities, but many others do. She gave the example of never meeting Marsters.

SDK was asked if the symbolism of putting Lex in a black leather duster had occurred to anyone after Braniac transfers Zod into Lex. SDK said it was a great coat, and referred to "The Girl in Question" where Spike loses his coat but then immediately gets new ones. He said Braniac was always intended as part of a larger story, and JM is amazing, the most incredible person on set to work with. "You've never met a guy so devoted to his craft but who loves to be there on set." He said there was a joke that the way to make an actor miserable was to make them a star. He said the joy in James' eyes for his work was there all the time. He discussed how in "Destiny" James wanted to do the wire work for the fight because it seemed like fun. "His enjoyment shows on film."

SDK was asked how much of the input he gets through his MySpace blog will be used on Smallville. SDK talked about speaking to fans during the Buffy days but there were things like shipper wars and what they heard had to be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes things were difficult because they wanted to argue with comments but couldn't without revealing details of upcoming episodes. But the feedback was helpful in giving them an idea of audience comings and goings, and who was reacting to what.

Both were asked if there was anyone who jumped out at them in realizing their idea of what a character should be. SDK mentioned Sarah Carter, Elisha the teleporting girl on Smallville.

Asked about future changes for Superman, such as the traditional costume SDK said he thought it would be cool to see Clark in a cape in the very final show but it probably won't happen.

Red kryptonite stories will probably reappear.

Yet another question about genre stereotyping. Bradley said showrunners have no prejudice against actors, they just want the best one for the part. SDK said he wanted to talk about Patrick Stewart all day.

John Glover had been quoted as saying the entire Smallville finale had been changed a few days before filming. SDK said he was on vacation then but was surprised by how well the finale came out considering all the problems they had been having with it. He hoped the money for all the special effects hadn't come out of his salary.

SDK was asked about how far Lex could be taken in episodes and still keep the character likable. SDK said the character was complex, rather different from the Lex in films. He said they wanted to show the transformation of someone who had many opportunities to do the right thing but never took them.

Would there be more emphasis on character development than action on Smallville in the future? Yes, especially when they run out of money. SDK said he liked to direct small scenes with two actors. He preferred writing scenes focusing on emotion.

Bradley was asked if she cast Joss in his Veronica Mars cameo. She said that it happened due to conversations between Joss and Joel Silver and she was just told to make an offer.

SDK was asked about the differences in writers' rooms. He said they goofed off a lot more on Joss shows, they were "very bohemian." He cited the 2 hours spent on the astronaut/caveman argument as an example. He said it was less jokey on Smallville, as was the show, but they managed to squeeze in a little fun.

Bradley was asked about character development and how much she knew about where characters were headed during casting. She said she didn't get scripts much in advance and that Veronica Mars was very secretive.

How would the new CW affect Smallville's relationship with the network? SDK said everyone was shocked at the merger news. He said it killed a lot of pilots, like "Aquaman." The relationship a show has though tends to depend more on its ratings. Steve said he had done a pilot that was one of the casualties and hopes to have gotten tools for his own show from the work he's done on others.

Asked about prejudice against women larger than beanpoles in casting decisions, Bradley and SDK claimed there wasn't any, and cited an actor on "Grey's Anatomy" as an example, as well as Camryn Manheim. The questioner pointed out there were no such people on Veronica Mars. Both agreed that a lot of the criticism would come from the network. For example the WB had an image they wanted to create and had specific types of actors in mind. Bradley cited the new Betty the Ugly as an example of how things were getting better. (It's interesting how a problem that "didn't exist" could get better).

Bradley was asked if Canadian actors were benefiting from the fact that more shows were being done there. She noted that some shows had few guest stars, VM had a lot, but Smallville often had just one per episode. However as it was more expensive to cast American actors due to travel and housing costs, they tried to avoid bringing them in if it could be helped. She and SDK mentioned the child actors needed to play the young Lex as an example of having to go outside local pools.

Bradley replied to another question that pilots were often the most difficult casting job because so much money was involved and thus a lot of people had a say in the casting process. Casting Veronica was quick, Kristen was the third actress seen and did very well. Logan proved the toughest because there were so many ways the character could go. Tons of actors were seen for the role.

With demographics skewing to older ages, would more adult fare be seen on TV? Hopefully yes, there seemed to be signs of that this season.

Glover had turned out to be the biggest casting surprise as he was very against type and had just 4 or 5 lines in the pilot and wasn't to be brought back. Bradley said three people had the same happen on VM, with bit parts turning into larger roles.

**James Marsters Q &A**

James bounded on stage announcing that he had just bought Darth Maul's light saber (I assume he was talking about getting one used in the film at auction?) He said it was really big but he could handle it. And with that entendre, we were off.

He was asked about the role he'd had in a stage play years ago (Scotland Row?) where he had grown a beard, and was asked how long it had taken. He said he'd been trying to look older, and the director had encouraged him to do it because it was something the character would do. It took him about a month to 6 weeks, but it was a goatee.

James was asked about his song lyric in "Up On Me" about why he was hopeless? He said the whole title was actually "You Can Give Up On Me" but when casting about for one he went with the shorter version and hadn't really considered the sexual overtone. His answer was that "I'm at a place in my life where I think I'm a real good lover but I don't have time to be."

I think he was asked about his response to the Ghost of the Robot video that had played over lunch and he said he had been asking people in the photo line to tell Himber to take the video off because listening to it made him cringe. He said one should never listen to a tape of live music, and that things were more forgivable when heard live. Re: the recording he said "It sucks."

He was asked about his involvement with his friends' band the Vandals during high school and how the song "Button Down Vandals" had changed over the years since it was the first song he wrote. He said his friends would have him on stage with the band from time to time but he wasn't a member as he was off doing solo gigs at the time. He'd do a few solos on stage and then join in on a few songs. He said he thought he had done a Cars cover, and the band played a lot of Ramones and especially Clash. His friend Gordon wasn't in the band but co-wrote the song with him. They were all about 16 or 17, "We were all geeks who got a rock band together."

Yes, he believed in love at first sight, but also believes people spent the next 18 months figuring out if they'd got it right. He said nature gave people time to be friends as passion faded. I guess the questioner had been nervous because he then thanked everyone for having the balls to ask questions.

How would Spike have reacted if he had been the puppet rather than Angel? JM thought Spike would be more angry about it, would have sulked a lot, bit people, wouldn't have stuck to doing his job. 

In what I thought was one of the more interesting comments that was never followed up on, JM was asked if Nina had been brought on the show as a love interest for Angel to distract him from Spike. JM replied that Jenny Mollen was Drew's girlfriend and was treated on the set "with a sexism that offended everybody." Unfortunately he didn't elaborate on what that treatment was, who was offended, and why nothing was done about it. Instead the conversation followed the whole Spike/Angel issue, and he said that when he did the "that one time" line he was pretty tired but knew as soon as he saw it that he was "going to hear about it." But clearly Spike would "try everything once in 120 years." He then asked if women liked watching gay guys the same way that men liked seeing lesbians. At the chorus of yes'es he nodded and said he had learned something new that day. (What? It's taken this long?)

He was next asked what women's parts in Shakespeare he would have enjoyed playing. He said Lady Anne, and Portia, and then went on about Shakespeare being a humanist and doing great parts for women. He added that the line "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" should also be "like a man scorned" as we should have both. He said Shakespeare wrote great female parts and then hired really good looking transvestites to play them. (I'm assuming he has no first hand knowledge of that).

Asked what would be an ideal romantic dinner he cited cornish game hen stuffed with apple, sausage and corn meal, a simple salad, and lots of fruit, sweet juice such as passion fruit, but it couldn't be too heavy a meal. He said eclairs would be a last course, dessert would be much later in the evening.

What did he know now he wishes he had known at 25? That he was a good person and needed to accept himself more. "I was trying too hard for too long."

Asked about recurring dreams, he said he didn't remember them, and that he knew that if he didn't he must be repressing them, so he probably had very interesting dreams but didn't know about them. He asked how to change that. He then brought up a falling in water dream he'd had years ago, falling from a tower which was exploding and which had all his Julliard friends, but he was happy because he wasn't among them. 

How does one conquer fears? Face them, they're never as bad as you think. He said that he suspected he had become quite fearless due to the bad leg injury he'd had as a child when he was told he wouldn't walk again, but he did. He said after that he felt he didn't have enough fear, and should have had better instincts to stay out of dangerous situations. His biggest fear is that he won't be able to provide long-term for his kids. He said he was excited because his son was doing well in school, getting all As "He's going to Harvard! ARGH!" He said as long as he could know for sure they'd be ok he could stop worrying.

If he could get three of his favorite artists in a room, what critique would he give them? George Bernard Shaw, Gertrude Stein, Hillary Clinton "Yeah, I think she's going to be President." But he needed to talk to her before she was spoiled by Washington, well, she already was. He wouldn't critique them though because he couldn't think of telling Shaw anything he did wrong. Then he changed his list to include Gandhi or Martin Luther King, and Gloria Steinem. As the questioner walked off he changed his mind again and said "Georgia O'Keefe."

Why doesn't he tend to write bridges for his songs? Lack of experience. 

Who should play him in a bio of his life? Someone who has a lot of excess energy, Joaquim Phoenix would be good.

What was his most challenging role? Challenging as in how? As in which one he sucked the most in? Toby Belch in 12th Night. He was 20 years old, in a fatsuit, playing a 60 year old alcoholic and looking 14. He was told later by a teacher at Julliard that he had been given the role because he would be bound to fail in it. He added that he questioned himself too much then, didn't trust his own acting instincts. He asked why college students were often given such weighty depressing material to play such as one by a Russian writer he also had to do at the time. 

Asked what he would do and where he'd go if he had a month of completely free time, he seemed to have a hard time imagining it. He said he'd probably spend it with his kids, or on a desert island with nothing, just having time to be bored. Asked if he could have one other person with him what would he do. He said it would be bliss for a while and then they would fight.

Asked what was the most foolish thing he ever did for a girl he loved he said he bought her a 65 Mustang and then didn't even take it back when they broke up. He also said he'd made many a boullaibaise for a girl that went underappreciated

Asked what were his favorite stunts that he'd done, he said doing the wire work in "Destiny", which was fast and smooth, and lighting himself on fire in "Lover's Walk." He liked being trusted to do stunts. 

Asked what accent he was using for Braniac and whether or not we'd ever hear him using his own voice, he had to ponder a moment what his own voice was and then decided "California relaxed." He thought Braniac seemed very stiff on the page and he wanted him to be more casual. He did a mid-Atlantic speech, which was what Julliard trained American actors to use when doing Shakespeare. When someone called out that he did his own voice in "Chance" he agreed and said it was because Simon was a goofy character, so that was probably when he'd use his own voice.

If he could talk to any actor, ever, who would it be. He said he'd like to talk to the Greek actors, though we only know the name of the playwrights from that time. He didn't want to ask them about acting so much as what it was like to be performing in front of a public which would be having what is similar to a church revival experience now. He also wanted to talk to Edmund "I have to get a shag on" Keane, whom he discussed a bit, but thought he'd probably bore Keane, who might say "Are you going to kiss me?" But he was apparently an actor with great depths of passion who was very inflammatory on stage. 

Asked his views on Shakespeare adaptations he said there was nothing wrong with doing them as Shakespeare himself took material from other places, but he thought there should be a term that distinguished such works from plays more faithful to Shakespeare's writing and staging.

If he could rule the world for 24 hours what would he do? First, he'd create paper trails for voting machines. Second, he'd create campaign finance reform so that all campaigns would be publicly financed and no one could spend more than the set amounts. "The person who was most creative in spending the money would probably win," he shrugged but said at least it gave the public the chance to do the rest rather than having someone dictate what needed doing. Certain investigations would then start to happen and certain people would be in jail. He would also institute nationalized health care.

Asked what it was like to read a book to an audience he can't see, he said it was pretty much like reading it to himself, that when recording a book on tape he wouldn't really read ahead but would discover it as he was reading it. Mistakes could always be re-recorded.

What would he want to ask Bobby Comfort, whom he played in "Cool Money"? He said he'd want to know more about his childhood which he felt was very glossed over in the (book?). "He got whupped by his Mom bad." Also knowing whatever was done with the money. He found the thefts a little romantic and noted that articles at the time mentioned rising violence for small sums but that in these major hauls of enormous sums no one was hurt. And someone on the crew of Buffy who was a Buddhist had explained that it was a good thing to lose material objects. He was then reminded of another point for the King for a Day question, that "Everyone who has kids should love them."

He was asked why there was a double standard about women being criticized for liking Spike who was a killer and not a good person when men were never taken to task for being attracted to women such as Faith and Darla. He agreed this was a good point and said he wanted to be attractive because he wanted a career. He said a lot of women and men made the mistake of thinking that they can change someone and that if they pleased them that they can be loved in the right way. What bothered him about Spike was that the people on the show prided themselves on being subversive artists and he felt that the character of Spike was a cliche and not the truth, someone who was a vicious killer but who was always good to his girlfriend. But he could understand attraction, and mentioned that Harmony was bad in the best way, who wouldn't be attracted to her?

Asked if he'd ever go blond again he said it was possible. Thanks to Smallville he had gotten a high enough profile with dark hair that people realized he could play other parts than the ones he was typecast for while blond. 

Asked at what age and with what play kids should be introduced to Shakespeare he said it had to be done by taking them to a really good performance, not reading it because the plays weren't meant to be read. They had to be absorbed in an easier manner, but paid attention to, the way one might watch "Law & Order." He suggested "A Midsummer's Night Dream" because kids would really enjoy the man turned into the donkey and it would be something for them to latch onto. He also said that Seuss was great, as it introduced them to language as more than just vocabulary, anything that used words that danced.

Asked if he was ticklish and where, he said yes, though he could pretend not to be if necessary. Locations were tummy, kneecaps and behind the ear. But he doesn't like to be tickled, especially when he's sleeping.

He was told the song he had played the night before, "Baby Blue" was one of the sweetest things the questioner had heard. He said he didn't write it, Keb Mo did but he wanted something that would be like a benediction at the end of the show.

How would he impress a girl, say, on a 5th date? He said he'd drive to Santa Barbara, have a good conversation in the car, have a picnic on the beach, stay at a nice hotel, have a shower, change for dinner, follow the wind for that, then dinner, then sex, then room service with pancakes at 2 AM, then sleep at dawn. 

Asked about the "Dad" tattoo Katie had, and where it was. He said it was on the back of her neck, and she had a short bob haircut, and he'd see it standing in line for lunch. She told him he was apparently the only man who liked it. 

Asked about his character in "Winding Roads" he said that he was a good, simple guy, not ambitious, probably would have been a great father but wouldn't make good conversation over dinner. But the movie was not his story. "But I was so cute and good in that!"

He overcomes writer's block by going and creating something else. He said he'd finished a song recently and knew it was because he was rehearsing a play. That everyone should have the moments of being really happy with their work "I'm a genius! I'm Tolstoy!" and then coming back to it the next day and realizing "I'm not Tolstoy!"

Asked again about the song "Button Down Vandals" he said that he and his friends weren't really vandals, because although they liked breaking into places they had a rule about not damaging anything or giving anyone any idea they'd ever been in there. They would break into churches, but just sit on the pews and talk and be respectful in it. They liked climbing down ropes from skylights into such places, thinking it was really cool. He added that one thing they did vandalize were their school walls, which were built in a way to beautify the school, the idea being to have wavy walls with rocks in them but there wasn't enough money for the rocks so there were just pockmarks in it. They'd spray paint quotes from Thoreau, the Dalai Lama, philosophers, and then make a big deal of being forced to paint over these words.

Asked if he liked to dance he said yes, he did but most people were afraid of looking goofy and alcohol helps you not think about that. He said he'd be doing some very goofy dancing in "Teechers" but he wouldn't be drinking this weekend.

Asked why he chose the play "Teechers", he said that among his ex-wife's many skills was finding plays. She would read plays and playwrights from many countries and then pass them on to him. She had difficulty with that one, because of the way the play was structured. "We were peeing in our pants in rehearsal." He said two plays he had done were sure-fire audience pleasers, festival plays, "Teechers" and "Kvetch" by Stephen Burkoff, the latter of which is about people sitting around talking at a dinner party and worrying about things. When the questioner thanked him and walked off while he was still discussing it he said "You can just say 'shut up', my friends tell me that all the time."

Asked why his middle name was Wesley he said it was because his mother wouldn't let his father name him completely after himself. Asked about his son's name, Sullivan, he said he wanted it to be John. Being born in 1962 he felt there were 7 names a boy could have and not be picked on and his wife was coming up with all sorts of weird and biblical names. Then they were watching Ken Burns' Civil War documentary and were struck by Sullivan Ballou who wrote wonderful romantic letters to his wife. But he thought John was a great name.

He was asked what was most frightening in a horror movie and he said it was when the audience didn't know what was going on. 

Asked what was the best gift he could give to fans, he was somewhat stumped and said that the whole meeting experience was generally so rushed it was very difficult to do anything meaningful. He thought perhaps it was when people would bring their kids to see him, trusting that he would give them a good experience and not be "Oh yeah. Great to meet you" in an insincere way.

At this point the Q&A was brought to a close and Himber announced that there were a few items up for silent auction. Also at this time they brought up other con guests on stage, such as Kevin Sorbo who did photos and autographs but no Q&A at the con. He took the mic to say that the last time he was on the Queen Mary was as a teenager when he was doing a fashion show for Adrian Paul.


End file.
